It is conventional to display a geographic map in a vehicle using a navigation system, in which a vehicle symbol is displayed on the geographic map as a function of the current geographic position of the vehicle such that the observer is able to detect where the vehicle is presently located. In the process, manifold supplementary information may be displayed within the geographic map. For example, the traffic signs assigned to the roads of the geographic map may be indicated on the geographic map by a graphic object. The display of the traffic sign may disappear for example if the displayed map detail has changed such that the position of the graphic object for the traffic sign is no longer within the displayed map detail.